The world’s largest 2nd-life battery storage unit will soon go into operation in the Westphalian town of Lünen. A joint venture between Daimler AG, The Mobility House AG and GETEC, it will be operated from the beginning of next year at the site of REMONDIS SE and marketed in the German electricity balancing sector. The stationary storage unit, with a total capacity of 13 MWh, uses second-life battery systems from the second generation of smart electric drive vehicles.

Under the banner of “E-Mobility thought to the end,” Daimler, The Mobility House, GETEC and REMONDIS are mapping out the entire battery value creation and recycling chain with their project in Lünen. The process demonstrably improves the overall environmental performance of electric vehicles, thereby helping to make e-mobility more economically efficient.

The battery systems are manufactured and reprocessed at the Daimler subsidiary ACCUMOTIVE, used in electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles from Daimler AG, and the installation and marketing of stationary battery storage units in the energy markets by The Mobility House and GETEC, through to recycling the battery systems at the end of their lifecycle and feeding the valuable raw materials back into the production cycle, which will be the future responsibility of REMONDIS.

High-performance battery storage units are an important component in the successful transition to renewable energy. With an increasing supply of electricity from fluctuating renewable energies, such as wind farms or solar power stations, they can help stabilize power grids, levelling out energy fluctuations with virtually no loss—a role that is partly fulfilled by fossil power plants at present.

With their 2nd-use battery storage project in Lünen, the four partners are demonstrating that the lifecycle of a plug-in or electric vehicle battery does not end after its automotive application. Depending on the model, Daimler AG guarantees its electric vehicle customers a battery life of up to ten years. However, the battery systems are still fully operational after this point, as the low levels of power loss are only of minor importance when used in stationary storage.

Daimler estimates that the unit can operate efficiently in a stationary application for at least another ten years.

This temporarily delays the final phase of the value chain: material recycling. Re-use of the lithium-ion modules from electric cars in 2nd-use battery storage units practically doubles their commercial service life.

The Mobility House AG (TMH) integrates electric vehicles into the power grid as an aggregated swarm storage of batteries as well as a stationary storage device from vehicle batteries. The Mobility House was founded in 2009 and supports all leading car manufacturers in over 20 countries throughout the world from its locations in Munich, Zurich and San Francisco.

Part of the energy service provider GETEC, GETEC ENERGIE AG develops individual,

tailored solutions for the supply of electricity and gas. It also markets electricity. Together with TMH, GETEC is a shareholder in Coulomb GmbH.

REMONDIS SE is one of the world’s largest recycling, service and water companies. REMONDIS aims, among other things, to recycle lithium-ion batteries on an industrial scale in the future. The group operates in Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia to provide a sustainable supply of raw materials and water.

Comments

If they used ZEBRA batteries from FIAM or Durathon ones from GE the batteries could last even 40 years and batteries with failed cells could have such replaced. Nickel Iron cells which still work after a hundred years are known but have low efficiency.

New FIREFLY negative foam electrode cells may be lower in cost and become even more interesting with the final development of positive and negative electrode foam cells. It is not widely known that the water solution in such cells is chemically required to be seven times the volume of the actual active solid materials of such cells and this solution can reside in the open space of the cells right next to the thin coating of active material.

Vanadium ion flow batteries can have infinite energy but very low power, and are much more energy efficient than generating hydrogen for use in fuel cells. In principle all could have their own Stirling isotope powered electric generator. But first every dwelling, factory, office building and shop which now burns any fuel should have a combined electric and heat and/or heat generator required and installed. (CHCP or Cogeneration) Most of these could use long life Stirling machines. Other could use combustion micro-turbines. This would supply more electricity to the grid than all the wind machines yet proposed, and would supply lower cost electricity with lower CO2 release at less cost than wind turbines.

Someone should invent a sodium-chlorine fuel cell. They could be used in submarines for many thousands of underwater miles at far less cost and worry than nuclear subs. Sodium Chloride is already in the ocean. Chlorine can be added to water in such a way that oxygen can be produced for breathing too. ..HG..

Hats off to Germany and specifically Daimler Benz for moving quickly to recycle traction batteries for grid storage. No doubt Germany will lead the World in creating a renewable energy economy, an economy that is independent of other countries for energy, i.e., Russia and Ukraine. I envy their resolve. We don't seem to be able to get past the petty partisan politics of a Congress that works for only the 1% and themselves and not for the good of the American people. Time to throw out all the incumbents rascals and vote in new people, seriously, they did it in Canada, and we can do it here.

In related news; Tesla is building grid and home storage units in their new Gigafactory starting now, two months ahead of schedule. They claim they have back orders that total 1 billion dollars. I see Tesla's future bread and butter product as Grid and Traction Batteries, eventually outselling their cars. Grid and Home storages systems are a very big deal and the key component in our transition to renewable energy and reducing fossil fuel usage.

Looks like Henry has a new monomania: isotope-powered Stirling generators. He doesn't seem to have realized yet that producing the isotopes requires a fission energy cycle vastly larger than the heat output of the remnant radioisotopes.

I read it as Henry saying "In principle" everyone "could have their own" IPSG. "But first" every building and which is now burning fuel should be doing it with a combined electric and heat and/or heat generator and that most of these could be long life Stirling machines.

And yet their economy hasn't suffer for it. In fact when the great recession hit Germany and its "highest electric rates" kept the rest of Europe afloat. High commodity prices drive innovation in industry.

Oh. OK then, but still even if it is just the public that pays the higher rates the facts still remain 'when the great recession hit and Germany & its highest electric rates kept the rest of Europe afloat.' How can that be so? Isn't high energy prices suppose to be the big bad boogeyman? Or maybe it's not and we should stop harping on it.